Sunlight
by MusicMadtm
Summary: Just a regular demigod, daughter of Apollo. She gets whipped into the sky by an unexpected enemy. Embracing who you are isn't such a bad thing, you know. Please read and review, every review counts! I'll try and personally reply to everyone (if I get any ;))
1. Prologue - I Wish

My name is Kella. Which sucks. I'm a daughter of Apollo. Which also sucks.

I mean, if you meet some demigod who arrived at Camp Half Blood last night, sitting by the camp fire all alone, and ask him/her who they want their godly parent to be, they would say Zeus, master of jerks and zapping people. Or maybe Aphrodite, so they can be irresistible and can charmspeak anyone into doing their bidding. Maybe they'd say Poseidon, so they can be like Percy Jackson, or Hades, so they have an excuse to be dark and mysterious, or even Hermes, so they can be a master thief and all-rounder at everything. Me? I wanted to be a daughter of Artemis, and join the Hunters of Artemis. The untouchable, immortal, beautiful teenage warrior chick suited me. Even my name means 'warrior'. But no, I get stuck with the guy who does awful poetry and has an oracle that ruins some girls' life and turns her into a word-spewing snake with glowing eyes every now and again. I got all of the useless things, music, art, poetry, prophecy, healing and sunlight. Oh, and Apollo himself. Yay.

The one thing that doesn't suck too badly is looks, if you look at it a certain way. My hair, auburn brown, has some pretty awesome blond highlights in sunlight (ha ha, daughter of the sun god, thanks Apollo). I always keep it cropped and layered, clinging round my face just past my shoulders. I have that pretty, elfin face with big eyes and delicate lips most guys don't like, unless they're a manga fan. Which most guys aren't. My eyes are pretty weird, some parts muddy green, some parts hazel brown, and a few hints of cat-like amber in the mix too. In my mind, this isn't a good thing. These looks should go _great_ with my hunter-chick-daughter-of-Artemis plan, but because I'm the girl of a stinking sun god, every time I look in the mirror it reminds me how much I wanted that life.

I know the whole 'in the middle of snowstorm in midwinter, sun comes out, godly voice speaks through the clouds' is kind of clichéd, but then Apollo did something _way _not cool. He set me on fire. So, there I was, standing in a snowy field during the middle of capture-the-flag, blazing not so merrily like a shrub in a bushfire. Way to go, Dad. That was how he claimed me as his daughter. Turned me into Kentucky fried demigod with extra ketchup.

I wish my life hadn't turned out like that.


	2. Chapter 1 - Onto The Real Story

**Congratulations! If you're reading this right now, I'm assuming you've read the prologue! Yaay! But let me know and review, tell me what you thought of it! Only takes seconds, and I'll reply to every one! Any comment welcome (no haters though please!)**

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Anyway, I'll quit moaning about my life now. Let's get on with this thing.

I love capture-the-flag. All out chaos. The big, burly Ares kids fight as many people as possible, even at the same time, whilst the Demeter kids try and throw baskets of cereal and fruit at oncoming attackers. This bit is hilarious, if you've ever had someone with a murderous expression try and knock you out with a box of Cap'n Crunch.

Me? I run away as soon as the action starts and try to search for the blue flag. No one ever notices in the bloodbath of the clearing with each team trying to knock out the competition before they can get anywhere near the flags. I can run pretty dam fast, which is an advantage, so on the rare occasion that someone follows me into the woods, I just outrun them.

My main weapon is bow and arrow, but if I have to fight anyone close up I prefer a knife; easily concealed and quick to whip out. I usually have enough time to be far enough away from anyone in capture-the-flag so I can shoot them down, nothing serious though, an arm or leg maybe.

So, we were in this game of capture-the-flag one day. Started off as normal really. Hephaestus' kids brought out the flaming scorpions which caused a stir and one of my sisters (Okay, one thing to get clear: when I say sisters or brothers, I just mean other kids of Apollo) got knocked out by a bunch of bananas shot out of a cannon. No joke. Sash was out stone cold for an hour.

Anyway, I ran off straight into the woods as normal and notched an arrow into my bow in case I needed to attack quickly. I always learn archery for my plan to join the Hunters, but I guess I got the skill from Apollo.

I was streaking through the forest, darting my eyes around for a glimpse of blue, when there was a slight change of atmosphere so acute that I wondered that if I was just imagining it. Then it changed even more, and I knew it wasn't just me. The wind chilled, and the drizzle that started a couple of minutes ago started stinging my face with ice shards. In New York, this doesn't often happen in mid-summer, and I guessed something was up. I stopped running and looked upwards to the sky. The sun had gone behind the clouds, which were thick, smoky grey and tinged with yellow. Wait… I knew those clouds. Growing up in Winnipeg you know when it's going to snow. Wearing just a tee (silver and black – Artemis again, the moon and the night. You could say I'm a creature of the night), breastplate and my ripped denim shorts, I was in no outfit for skiing.

Just as I was about to head back to camp and tell Chiron, a cold blast of air hit me straight in the face. I was knocked back against a tree by the sheer force of the wind, the breath knocked straight out of my lungs. A movement caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I looked in utter amazement/terror. A rapidly swirling tornado of hail and snow descended to the frost whitened ground right in front of me. As the winds receded enough to show me, I could just make out a tall, elegant figure wearing a flowing white dress that merged into the winds surrounding her. She had shiny tumbling ringlets of ebony hair that contrasted with her dress and milky complexion. Her hair was elegantly pinned back with a circlet of glimmering diamonds. A half admiring thought slid through my mind, _I wish I had hair like that. _Her eyes, which could have been an attractive rich chocolate colour, were icy cold and glittering with malice. Behind her, two '70s freaks with indigo angel wings and cringe worthy mullets and sideburns hovered.

I desperately wracked my brains: surely I'd heard of such ridiculous haircuts somewhere?

The girl spoke; her voice sounded like an iron nail on glass, chilling and hair lifting.

"I never thought you would stumble across my path, so easily, Kella. You're not worthy of immortality, or to be a Huntress. You're just a mindless wannabe." She hissed softly. Tears pricked my eyes and I furiously blinked them back. I wasn't mindless! I was about to give this arrogant snob a piece of it, deep fried with extra sarcasm to go.

"Oh yeah, Frosty? Can a 'mindless wannabe' (I mimicked this in a high pitched whine which made the girls cheeks pale – guess that's her version of blushing) do this?" I actually had no idea what to do. I was too close range to shoot her, so I pulled out my knife and aimed to slice at Frosty's cheek. Unfortunately, this didn't have the desired effect. She simply raised her hand and grabbed my knife, promptly freezing it into a mini icicle spear. Damn. Now I had no means of attack, unless clouting her over the head with my bow would do. I had a sneaky suspicion that it wouldn't.

"I am Khione, goddess of snow, and I have come to destroy you, daughter of Apollo." Uh oh, this wasn't good. Think, think. Ah hah! Keep her talking.

"So, why come for one of Apollo's brats?" I asked Khione conversationally. I glanced momentarily over to the '70s freaks, trying to calculate the speed of how fast I could shoot them versus Khione's instant freezer powers. Khione didn't notice, and just stared at me slightly dumbstruck. "Why not a powerhouse kid of one of the Big Three? Or maybe you've got a taste for pretty kids from Aphrodite, or fruit cannon kids from Demeter?" Every word I said made Khione's cheeks go paler and paler.

"I have been sent to destroy you, _Big Mouth_. I would keep quiet if I were you." She warned through gritted teeth.

"Ooh, Big Mouth, that the best you can do?" I asked her teasingly. "I've been called worse name by my own cabin mates, Frosty. That doesn't leave a scratch." Khione looked like she was getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"Enough talk." She snarled. "Gah, I should have just frozen you the second I came here. Oh well, you'll be doing no more talking, Kella. You're coming with me." Just as I was about to come up with some witty remark like "Uh!", Khione grabbed my bare arm with an icy grip and summoned her blizzard winds to carry us both away, into the sky and away from Camp Half Blood.

"Brrr, you got a jumper for me, Frosty? T-shirt and shorts aren't great winter gear; I'm a bit cold here." I asked as we flew through the sky in Khione's personal snowstorm. The mullet angels were silently flying either side of me, leering at me through the moustaches taped on either side of their faces. The one to my left was wearing a clingy silk shirt underneath a rusted breastplate with a ragged hole, probably melted by Greek fire or acid. He was wearing vomit yellow and disgustingly skin-tight polyester flares, and had a revolting collection of boils and zits decorating his feathery hair framed face. Ugh. I shuddered and turned to the angel on my right. He was slightly less offensive to the eye with a washed out red sports shirt, joggers and football spikes. Ah, bless him; he looked a bit dim, y'know, one sandwich short of a picnic and all.

"If you're going to survive at all, Kella, you'll need to have more resistance to cold than that." Khione replied icily. "Oh, no, wait a moment. You don't need a jumper, _child of Apollo. _You should be able to warm yourself up."

Eh? What did she mean by that? I didn't have much time to think about it though. Suddenly we jolted downwards and started making a rapid descent towards the ground. Between yelling "THIS IS AWESOME!" and trying not to get splatted into demigod pancake, I could hazily see that the ground below was white with either frost or snow. Yay, more frostbiting cold. Whether it's wired into me or if it's because I grew up around snow all the time, I'm not a fan of biting cold. I love sunlight, and that's the one thing I love about Camp Half Blood. It's in New York where the sun always shines (or so it seems to me), so I love lying lazily somewhere at camp, soaking up the sun. So, as you might guess, I wasn't best pleased to go back to cold and snow in my tee and shorts.

OOF! The breath was knocked out of me for the second time of the day as I smashed into the ground. Khione descended lightly a moment later and landed on her feet along with her mutant angels. Hey, no fair!

"Oh, thanks for dropping me, Frosty. Gimme a second's warning next time, yeah?" I said, half cheekily, half cross.

"I won't be letting you be so insolent soon, Kella." Khione warned me in what she probably thought was an ominous voice. "I'm merely _tolerating _you right now. Be on your guard."

"Ooh, sending shivers down my spine." I grinned, doing an over exaggerated shiver and rubbed my arms. Khione rolled her eyes.

"I grow weary of your childish attitude. Calais, Zetes, deal with her." The two freaky angels each drew long, jagged swords, more like long shards of metal than weapons. Gulp. I had managed to keep a fierce grip of my bow and arrows, but Khione still had my knife. Guess I'd have to talk my way out again. We started walking along the frost bitted ground.

"So, they're your names, Calais and Zetes." I mused aloud, stroking my invisible beard.

"Cal." The bigger guy with the sports shirt grunted.

"Oh, so you've got a nickname!" I exclaimed with a big grin. "What's yours then?" I asked innocently, turning to the scrawnier guy. "Do they call you Zete or something?"

"My name is Zetes, thank you. We are Boreads, children of Boreas, god of the north wind." He replied stiffly.

"Ooh, so is this Boreas guy your boss or something? Khione, you said someone _sent_ you here, was it that guy?" Khione looked annoyed and replied curtly,

"I kidnapped you on my own orders. You never heard me say I was sent."

"Right, got ya!" I gave her a slow, obvious wink.

Don't worry, even though I was trying to conceal my terror and confusion with a cheeky exterior, I still had one eye on where we were heading. There was no visible end to the frost hardened ground. We were walking through an empty plain. There were no houses or trees in sight, and there was a low, thick fog and a dark shadow looming straight up ahead, so I kept my eye on it.

"Stay quiet _now_, Kella. We are approaching our destination." Khione growled. I rolled my eyes to show I wasn't bothered, but didn't say anything. I was too busy focusing on the dark shadow ahead of me.

Blimey, this is taking forever! I guessed we'd been walking for over an hour and the dark shadow ahead still didn't look any more distinguishable. Thick wreaths of mist still floated across it, dissipating and re-grouping randomly. Wait… I squinted closer at the shadow. That wasn't mist! It was _the_ Mist, the magic that conceals demigod and Greek stuff from mortals. I'd heard that it was so strong that it could sometimes conceal things from demigods too. That must have been why we had been walking in an awkward silence for so long without any sign of getting closer.

And that was when the pain hit me.


	3. Chapter 2 - I Totally Meant To Do That!

**Heyy again, three chapters in one day yess! Please review, it only takes seconds and I write based on my feedback! Enjoy ;)**

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I didn't mean to walk straight into Boreas' lair. I mean, with Mist that strong, I could still only see the shadow in the distance till I smashed face first into a sheet of polished marble.

I rubbed my head whilst Khione and the Boreads sniggered behind me. I turned and flashed them a grin to save my embarrassment.

"I _totally _meant to do that, guys!" Khione snorted, her frosty eyes thawing for a second.

"I seriously doubt that. Now, come quietly _without _your silly comments, for my father will be displeased if you don't." She turned back for a second. "And when I say displeased, I really mean more likely to kill you." She added. I gulped. How could I have enough value that someone wanted to kill me?

Khione led the way into the marble castle. I looked up in wonder as we entered the hallway. The ceiling was alight and glowing with the northern lights, and large stalactites hung down, dripping with frozen water droplets. The thick blue carpet was glittering with frost that thickened to snow at the other end of the room. My breath steamed out in front of me like cigarette smoke, and I had so many goose bumps that I looked like human bubble wrap.

"Dude, this is unnatural! It's, like, mid-August and it's minus fifty in here! You _seriously _need a makeover on this place." I told Khione.

"Quiet, brat!" She hissed. "Remember what I told you a moment ago. My father will only kill you quicker." I rolled my eyes again.

"Yeah, yeah, already heard that one." I muttered. She glared at me furiously, and I piped down.

Khione led me silently through a maze of icy stairways that I slipped and slid up and down, corridors, tunnels and doorways, until a white glare that almost burnt my eyes came ahead. It had an ominously serious air about it. I dreaded going anywhere near it. Regardless, Khione prodded me in along with Zete and Cal.

_"More likely to kill you." _It echoed through my mind.

We entered a throne room that would've been majestic and beautiful if it wasn't so chilled and unwelcoming. Again, the northern lights were dancing at the ceiling, but they were much higher up and further away. The floor was ice and the walls were glimmering but plain glaciers. At the end of the room in an ornate (yep, you guessed it) ice throne was a guy that had a striking resemblance to Father Christmas. He had round cheeks and small eyes with a fluffy white beard and hair. Well actually, I couldn't tell if his hair was white or not, but it was coated in frost. His white suit looked as if he was wearing a layer of snow. There were a few differences from Santy Claus, though. This guy had the angry, storm brewing expression of a deeply troubled man, with deathly pale skin and beady eyes like a weasel. His thin, arched eyebrows were so plucked and pruned that they looked like a woman's. Oh, great. Just my luck to bump into such a stupidly angry person. A god, no less, which would make him even cockier.

Khione stepped forward and garbled something to Boreas in what I assumed was French. He replied in a pleased tone, with a chilling hint of the voice of a murderer who'd just found his victim. Khione turned to me and translated.

"Father says that we will waste no time for pleasantries. We will get straight down to business. Do you know why you have been summoned here?"

"Erm, let me think. I've been ripped out of a totally ordinary game of capture-the-flag, flown through the sky for hours and hours, walked through a frosted plain for ages and slipped around your ice assault course of a house, all wearing a t-shirt, shorts and Greek sandals. Do you think I know?" I took a breath then added, "Can I have a jumper and some jeans at least?"

Khione flashed me a murderous look at my comment and translated what I thought was a much shorter version of my rant. I hope she asked for the jeans. Boreas looked confused for a second, then frowned even more. He said something angrily, then calmed down a little. Khione looked worried as she spoke to me in English.

"Father says if you don't know the purpose of this little visit, then there is no need to tell you. He doesn't wish to make you aware of any… complications." What was _that_ meant to mean? Before I could ask anything, a cold sensation burned across my body so fast I felt like I was in a rapid freezing ice age. I had been frozen like an ice statue! I could still see what was going on, but I couldn't swivel my eyes or move. Cold coursed through my veins, so much so that I couldn't feel how cold it was. Great. It was probably overloading my nerves.

I could hazily see that I was being carried off by Zetes and Cal, down another twisted path of corridors I couldn't hope to remember.

I was thrown down with a bang onto some sort of floor in a dank, musty room that was hard enough to make a small crack down the side of my statue. Click! I melted onto the floor, literally, my limbs floppy and unusable after being overloaded with cold. Before I could react in any way, Zetes was out, slamming the door behind him. I heard a hiss like when Khione froze my dagger, and Zetes' footsteps as he walked away, leaving me alone. I didn't have enough energy to even look around at my surroundings. I just put my head in my hands and cried.


	4. Chapter 3 - Chains

**Me again, please leave a comment and leave any likes and improvements! I'll try and reply personally to each review (If I get any ;))**

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I'm not sure how long I sat there sobbing, but I felt like all my hope was gone. I was locked away in a castle at the gods know where, with no means of escape. I was drained from trying to keep up a brave face to Khione. I was sick of the cold and dark, no sun or warmth anywhere.

When all the tears left me, I rubbed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and started to analyse my situation. I was in a bare bricked old style dungeon room, with a small barred window on the ceiling. The temperature was similar to Boreas' entry hall, but marginally warmer than his throne room. I was still wildly shaking with cold, but I figured Boreas was toying with me, keeping the room warm enough to keep me alive, but cold enough to keep me in some major discomfort. I had no jumper, no food, and my icy cold metal breastplate didn't help. I hadn't eaten since lunchtime. I didn't know how long it had been since I left Camp Half Blood, but judging by the hunger so intense that it hurt my stomach, it had been at least fourteen hours.

So, I needed a plan. The window was immediately out. The ceiling was about five metres high, far too high up to reach. It had a thick glass and steel bars over the top on the outside.

I got to my feet and started pacing. Window, out. I ran my fingers along the walls, feeling for any secret trapdoor or escape hatch. No luck there, either. Frustration welled up inside me and pulsed through my veins. I pushed my hands against the door with my arms outstretched, more trying to think than escape. Red hot fury was threatening to escape out of me. If I didn't calm down I was going to scream. My fingers tingled with rage at the unfairness of the situation.

Warmth spread throughout my body and arms, moving down to my fingers. The door grunted, shifted, then fell open under my weight, making me crash onto the floor with my momentum. What just happened? I looked at the lock of the door in confusion, seeing that there was no keyhole. There was only some sort of mechanism that was now glowing red hot. I went back in my mind and remembered the noise the lock had made as Zetes walked away. It sounded like when she froze my dagger… I looked harder. Little water droplets were hanging off the lock mechanism. Was the lock just a deep freeze ice plug? Had I, _Kella_, just melted that lock?

I looked down at my fingers and pressed them to my cheek. They were nice and warm, like they'd been held over a warm fire for an hour. They were rosy red, unlike the ghostly pallor of the rest of my skin.

_"…_child of Apollo_. You should be able to warm yourself up_." Khione had said. I didn't dare to hope. _Could being Apollo's daughter not suck so much after all?_


	5. Chapter 4 - Left And Right

**I'm soo sorry people, I haven't updated for aaaaagesss! I've been working on Raging Storm and kind of had writer's block, but please read and review anyway! **

**NOTICE: I've decided if I get more than five reviews for this story, I'll do at least ten chapters. If I get ten reviews, I'll do at least fifteen. If I get twenty, I'll do over twenty chapters, and if I get thirty five or more (dream on, Music) then I'll write a sequel x)**

**So, with that in mind, please read and review!**

**Oh, and thanks for tolerating my inconsistent updating. You'll be lucky most of the time if you get one update in two weeks xD**

**Enjoy!**

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I needed a plan. I had no idea how to get out of Boreas' palace, but with my new zapping power, things weren't actually looking so bad for once. I started by walking cautiously down the corridor, my soft soled sandals appropriate for stealth. They didn't flap on the ice like flip flops (Gods, I HATE flip flops – long story, maybe another time), and they were soft enough to only make a small squeaking sound that was barely audible. I, amazingly, still had my bow and arrows. Zetes and Calais probably didn't have enough brainpower to figure out that leaving a prisoner with a dangerous weapon was a bad idea. I stiffened. What was that? Footsteps echoed down the corridor, sounding so close that I was confused that I hadn't heard them before. One set was dull and light, and the others were heavier but hollow somehow, like… Football boots! Zetes and Calais! I panicked, not knowing what to do. So, I did what any normal demigod would do in my situation. I played dead. I dropped swiftly but carefully to the floor being careful not to make a noise, made myself look as lifeless as possible, willed myself not to be seen, and closed my eyes. I heard the footsteps stop beside me and a confused grunt above my head.

"Prisoner… dead?" Calais asked in a bewildered voice.

"Unlikely. And how did she get out of the cell in the first place?" Zetes sounded a lot more dubious. I knew the lay dead thing did not work with people generally, so I needed a plan B. Hmmm, maybe this was the time to put my zapping powers to the test. I made myself relax, letting awareness and concentration spread through my muscles and to my fingers. I tensed, channelling all my strength into my fingertips. I clenched my fists slowly, then released them dramatically and spread my palms. A hot beam of orangey yellow shot from my hands and hit Zetes straight in the chest. The energy passed straight through his chest and zapped Calais, who was standing right behind him. They crumpled to the floor and I rolled out of the way to avoid being spiked in the stomach by Calias' boots. I stood up, but a wave of dizziness hit me so hard that I stumbled against the icy wall. I pressed my fingers to my temples as colours blossomed and spiralled beneath my eyelids. My head was spinning and my legs were shaking. I must not be used to using so much power quickly. I must not have realised how much energy I was using, and how strong it needed to be to knock someone out. I needed to practise controlling my strength.

Gradually the nausea faded and I could stand up normally again. No more zapping for a while, I think.

I carried on my cautious tread until I reached the end of the corridor, leaving Zetes and Calais on the floor. Calais was snoring like a baby. Aah, bless. I slid down a long spiral flight of stairs and slithered down a tunnel. As soon as I could stand upright and was out of the low tunnel, I brought my bow to my shoulder and notched an arrow, deciding it was a better form of defence rather than using my sunshine rays.

Just as I reached the doorway that lead to the entrance hall, a thought struck me. My dagger! I _needed_ my dagger back. I wasn't leaving without it. I had owned it since I was ten when I first joined Camp Half Blood. The grooves on the criss-cross leather hilt in my hand were more familiar to me than the back of my hand. How was I going to venture back into the heart of Khione and Boreas' palace without getting frozen _and _get my dagger back? Still, I had to try. It was like I'd lost a part of me, without my dagger.

I crept back down the corridor and stopped at a crossroads, trying to figure out which way to head. The middle path looked darker and warmer than the other ones, like it led down to the cellar. That wasn't right. The left path and the right path looked exactly the same, both a slippery ice pathway sloping gently upwards, with a white glow coming from the walls. How would I know which way to take?

"Go left!"

"Go right!"

Two deep male voices spoke in unison, booming and echoing round the walls. I did a 360, and when I turned back to the tunnels I saw someone. The weirdest thing was the face. Actually, no. The fac_es_. Two identical faces stuck out sideways, but they were still looking at me without turning around. The ears and sideburns muddled and melted together at the middle of the oversized head, making it look like something by Salvador Dali. The faces shared the same body and neck. I stared in confusion. Then it clicked.

"Janus, Roman god of doorways?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, of course, child! Such a clever one, this kid." The right face beamed at me happily. The left face rolled his eyes and scowled.

"Roman, always Roman. Just because the Greeks never worshipped us, doesn't mean they'd never heard of us!"

The right face waved away the comment with his right hand. "Don't mind him." The voices spoke as one. "We know your turmoil, Kella Luzader. We know every little thing that's ever crossed your mind." I shivered. I didn't want some two headed god spying on my thoughts!

The left face spoke again. "My path will lead you to your dagger. It will not be easy, but it won't be impossible. Far from it." I was about to take off down the left path, but Janus held up his left hand. "Wait." The left face warned.

The right face took over. "My path will lead you to the life you always wished." I took a sharp breath in. How could he know? He nodded at my expression. "Artemis is waiting at the end of my path. You can get what you always dreamed about." That threw me. Would I go for the life I always wanted, hoped for so much it hurt? Or should I go for my dagger? My head span with the opportunity down one door, the dagger down the other. Janus chuckled and spoke in unison again.

"Now, we get some confusion. Indecision. This is your crossroads, Kella Luzader. The first of many."

I wanted to wail out loud. Where should I go?

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**I left this cliffie for a reason, because I want YOU to decide which way Kella takes! Review and tell me where_ you _think she should go**

**Music x**


	6. Sunlight - Notice

**I feel bad writing this, but since I'm concentrating mainly on Silver Shadows right now, I'm putting Sunlight on hiatus so I can work on Silver Shadows for a while. Awww I feel really bad now! :(**


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